


Laid To Rest

by mrstater



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, F/M, Redeemed Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22544941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrstater/pseuds/mrstater
Summary: Ben wants to show Rey the galaxy, to see it with her. First, they have business on Naboo.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 17
Kudos: 34
Collections: For one is both and both are one in love: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	Laid To Rest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PoliticalPadmé (magnetgirl)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/gifts).



> For the prompt, "Exploring Naboo." I went with the canon-divergent take, because Ben Solo should not be dead. ;) Hope it fits the bill! 
> 
> Many thanks to [bratanimus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bratanimus/pseuds/bratanimus) and [Magical_Destiny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magical_destiny/pseuds/magical_destiny), who both helped me brainstorm this fic and provided loads of inspiration. Truly, I couldn't have done it without them! And extra thanks to [bratanimus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bratanimus/pseuds/bratanimus) for beta-reading. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

White streaks of light sharpened into the pinpricks of a billion stars as the _Millennium Falcon_ dropped out of hyperspace.

A planet loomed, verdant and dappled with azure beneath swirls of cloud. Ben didn't let his gaze linger on the view beyond the cockpit, preferring to turn his head toward his co-pilot. Rey's face lit up; in turn, he felt a smile stretch his own cheeks--a strange sensation he hadn't experienced in a long time, but which he was quickly growing used to. Her happiness was his.

But that wasn't her only emotion. Through their bond, he sensed a memory. _I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy_ , he heard her say, looking down at another planet from the same position. In the pilot's seat where Ben now sat, Dad watched her. Ben lingered for a moment in the memory--or Rey did, allowing him to savor the momentary nearness of his father--then it dissolved, giving way to awe at seeing Naboo for the first time. Ben resumed his observation of her. 

All this woman had done, yet there was still so much the girl from Jakku hadn't seen. Ben, either. His entire adult life had consisted only of space and the insides of starships, blood and darkness. He wanted to show Rey the galaxy, to see it with her. 

By some miracle, she wanted this, too. 

First, they had business on Naboo. 

Ben returned his attention to the controls for the approach to the planet, but even without looking at Rey, he sensed the shift in her emotions. Between them, the Force pulsed rapidly, her excitement giving way to uncertainty. What would they find here? He couldn't guess whether her trepidation was on his behalf or her own. Did she know Naboo was Palpatine's homeworld? She must…She would've read it on the Holonet, wouldn't she? Rey didn't seem interested in discussing her family origins, and Ben wasn't going to bring it up if she didn't. 

Still, he didn't want her feelings, whatever they were, to go unacknowledged. 

"Don't look so nervous, sweetheart," he said, switching the control settings to manual now they were out of hyperspace. "It's not like I'm taking you to Otoh Gunga _._ "

He stole another glance at her, grinning. Rey's smile returned, this time with a wicked glimmer as she retorted, "Only because you don't want to get your hair wet."

Ben scowled, but he couldn't feign indignance for long when Rey's nose was scrunched up like that and she was reaching over to rake her fingers through his hair. As the strands slid through them, he caught her hand and brought her fingertips to his lips, only reluctantly letting go when their descent to the planet made it necessary to have both hands on the controls. 

They joined hands again the moment they stepped off the _Falcon_ 's boarding ramp and kept hold as they made their way through Theed Spaceport. For all Ben had teased Rey about being nervous, she could've dished it right back. But if she noticed his clammy palm, she didn't comment, though she did give his hand a reassuring squeeze. Or maybe that was her mounting excitement as they stepped out of the docking bay and into the sunlight, which glistened off several waterfalls cascading over the edge of the curving cliffside against which the spaceport nestled.

"I've always heard Theed was one of the most beautiful cities in the galaxy," she said loudly, leaning toward him so he could hear over the roar of waterfalls and starship traffic, "but I never thought the spaceport would be, too." 

"Nothing offends the Naboo like a lack of style," Ben replied. "Wait'll you see their fashions." 

He started to walk on, but Rey remained rooted to the duracrete, brow furrowed. 

"Will they be offended by mine?" She gestured to her outfit with her free hand. "I didn't think to dress for the occasion. I've never dressed for _any_ occasion." 

Ben looked her over, taking in the familiar ensemble of woven vest over a tunic and cropped pants, all in varying shades of grey, sturdy low boots, and hair half-pulled back, the rest loose. It fell well past her shoulders now. He drew her against him, hand settling on the bare, sun-warmed skin between her vest sleeve and arm wrap. 

"You're perfect," he murmured as he brushed his lips over her forehead. 

Drawing back, he grinned down at her smiling up at him. They clasped hands again, then turned to admire the view of the falls against the cliffside. 

"The big one's called Virdugo Plunge," Ben told her. "It's the end of the Solleu River, which flows through the center of Theed." 

"Does it go out to sea?" Rey asked. 

"No--underground, to hydro turbines. The Naboo value function, too," he said, with a wink. 

They admired the view for a few minutes longer, enjoying the mist of the waterfall against their skin, for the summer day was warm. Then the weight at his hip reminded Ben what they came here to do. 

He tugged Rey's hand. "C'mon. Let's find an air taxi."

"Hair damp enough?" Rey joked, falling into step with him. 

"Can't be frizzy for the Naboo." Ben wasn't exactly dressed like the grandson of a queen in his black utility jacket, pants, and boots. But then, that was kind of the point.

It didn't take long to catch a taxi. As they boarded, the driver droid, wearing a cloth cap, said, "Destination, please." 

"Royal Burial Ground," Ben replied, voice pinched as he crammed himself into the narrow backseat. Rey must've thought it was emotion; she shot him a sympathetic smile and squeezed his thigh as she slid in beside him. "But take the scenic route," he added. 

"Is there any route in Naboo that _isn't_ scenic?" Rey asked as the air taxi carried them up the cliffside and above the rooftops of Theed, green tiled domes that matched the rolling landscape beyond the city. 

"Maybe the sewer system?" Ben shook his head. "No, I'm sure even those have murals and mosaics and carved drain pipes."

He pointed out various destinations as the taxi passed by: the Royal Palace, which hardly needed identifying; Theed University and the Royal Academy; the Parnelli Museum of Art. 

"Have you been to them all?" Rey asked. 

"My mother brought me along on a few trips for the New Republic, and to some speaking engagements at the University. Politics was never really my thing." He scrubbed at the back of his head as he considered the irony of the former Supreme Leader saying this. He went on, grinning, "Fine art, as you can imagine, was never my dad's. We bugged out and looked at the starfighters in the Royal Hangar instead." 

Even that had been too elegant for Dad's tastes. _You sure this ain't the art museum?_ he'd quipped while the Nabooian mechanics goggled. Ben had wished to become one with the Force.

Rey's nose crinkled in amusement, but she offered no opinion of her own about either art or politics. Did she feel a connection to any of this, the city and institutions that shaped her grandfather's youth as they had Ben's grandmother's? Not that he felt anything particular toward the city, apart from it being one of Mother's misguided attempts at family time.

Would Rey like to visit the art museum? Ben knew she'd love the Royal Hangar, but he didn't exactly have the credentials these days to get in. Of course, Rey was the hero of the Resistance... And if all else failed, there were always mind tricks.

"Is that a Jedi?"

They'd come to a traffic stop. Ben looked to see Rey gesturing to a statue outside the Theed Generator Complex: a long-haired figure in robes, kneeling in meditation.

"Qui-Gon Jinn," Ben told her. "He and Obi-Wan Kenobi protected my grandmother when Naboo was occupied by the Trade Federation's droid army. But Master Jinn was killed by a Sith lord."

This statue was the second that had been built, the Empire having destroyed the original during its occupation of Naboo. Or maybe it was the third; the First Order wouldn't have tolerated the monument's existence, either. 

Rey continued to study the statue, then said, "I heard him. When the Jedi spoke to me on Exogol. I don't know how I know it was him, but…"

"You do."

She nodded, and he squeezed her hand, caressing her knuckles with his thumb. 

As the taxi moved on, Ben looked back at the tranquil-faced statue as it shrank from view. "Master Jinn found my grandfather on Tatooine and took him to train as a Jedi."

How would the course of history have changed if he hadn't?

The route followed the Solleu River through a residential area to the outskirts of Theed. When the air taxi flew over a bridge, at one end of which stood a tower where a flame burned, Ben noticed for the first time that clouds had begun to roll in, darkening the deep blue sky with the threat of a thunderstorm. 

Shortly, the vehicle slowed to hover in front of an open gate at the foot of the hillside.

"Royal Burial Ground," intoned the driver droid. Its torso rotated to accept the payment card Ben slotted into the reader integrated into the droid's hand. "Would you like for me to wait for you?"

"No," Ben replied. "We'll call another cab when we're ready." 

He had no idea how long this would take.

By the time he finished paying the driver droid, Rey had already hopped down from the taxi. Ben disembarked and at once found her hand in his again. 

She looked up at him, smiling gently, and said, "It's okay. I'll be with you." 

His heart juddered in his chest. The one thing he'd looked for, all his life--someone to be with him--and here she was. He stooped to kiss her, briefly but passionately, then they turned and stepped through the cemetery gates. 

The burial grounds looked like Theed in miniature: here and there, statues stood in the manicured green grass, winged deities crowned with the moon; mausoleums continued the planet's architectural style, domed roofs tiled with green, columns wreathed in climbing plants, and stained-glass windows. 

"Do you know where Padmé's grave is?" asked Rey. 

Only when Ben heard the hush of her voice did he realize how silent the place was. He'd come here before, with Mother, but the monuments and vaults were a maze to him. Before he could tell Rey so, a dark-skinned man in brilliant green coveralls and a sunhat stopped raking around a grave and approached them. 

"Can I help you two?" the caretaker asked. "I can tell you where to find anyone buried in this cemetery."

This struck Ben as a weird point of pride. His instinct was to tell the man no, they could find their own way, but Rey said, "Yes, actually. We're looking for Queen Amidala's grave."

The lines of the caretaker's face deepened in a solemn expression. "Many do. She was, and ever shall be, Naboo's most beloved ruler." 

Rake in hand, he turned and indicated for them to follow. He led them around grave markers and past monuments, up a hill. 

"Is everyone buried here royalty?" Rey asked. 

"Naboo's monarchs are all buried here," the caretaker answered, glancing back over his shoulder, "but you'll also find politicians--governors, senators…members of prominent Naboo families."

Again, Ben sensed that unease from Rey which he'd sensed on their arrival to the planet. He squeezed her fingers, and the moment passed, her attention outward again as the caretaker resumed his speech. 

"Occasionally a king or queen's advisors and aides request to be laid to rest near those they served. But by and large, commoners don't bury our dead. We cremate them. You might have seen the Funeral Temple on your way here. On an island across a bridge?"

"By the tower where the fire was burning?" Rey asked. 

"Aye. That's the Livet Tower, where the Eternal Flame burns. We cast the ashes of our dead from that bridge into the Solleu River, so their spirits may rejoin the life force of the planet." 

"That's beautiful," Rey said. "Not so different from what the Jedi believe." 

Ben found himself smiling a little at that, and even more at the confusion of the caretaker, who spluttered, "The Jedi?" 

They'd reached the top of the hill, and he stopped before one of the white stone mausoleums. "Here we are. Queen Amidala's resting place." For a moment he stood in reverence, then he turned to Rey and Ben. "I have to get back to work, but if you need to find anyone else, don't hesitate to ask." 

Rey thanked him, then waited until he'd gone off to turn to Ben, who stared up at the tomb. "Would you prefer I wait outside? I understand if you want to do this yourself."

"I don't." It came out harsher than Ben meant, and he'd gripped her hand like a vice. Relaxing his fingers, he said, more gently, "Be with me. Please."

Together, they climbed the steps into the chamber. 

It smelled floral inside, mixed with smoke and melted wax. In each corner stood a candelabrum, filling the room with a warm, flickering glow and illuminating the stained-glass window on the opposite wall, flanked by vases of red flowers atop intricately carved pillars. 

"She was so beautiful," Rey murmured, gazing up at Grandmother's image in the window, depicted in a flowing pale blue gown and a fan-like headdress. Ben had a vague recollection of Mother telling him it represented the moon goddess, Shiraya. "And so young." 

Too young. They all were, weren't they? 

He lowered his gaze to the sarcophagus. It dominated the chamber, with only space enough on either side for one or two people to pay their respects or a caretaker to change the flowers and light the candles.

Letting go of Rey's hand, Ben reached out. As he gingerly placed his fingers on the cool surface below the carved Royal Crest, a vision flashed in his mind. A black gloved hand, prosthetic, lying here. Ragged breathing behind a gleaming mask whose eyes could not weep. 

Ben withdrew his hand. He didn't take Rey's again; instead, he unclipped the saber from his belt and gripped it in both hands at the foot of the sarcophagus.

"How will you bury it here?" asked Rey.

"I won't."

He turned and strode out of the mausoleum, Rey's boots scuffing on the steps behind him, then down the hill. She didn't ask where he was going, or what he intended to do with Grandfather's lightsaber if not stick with the original plan. She didn't need to. 

By now the sky had darkened considerably, and the wind kicked up, scattering the laboriously raked leaves back down the hill. The caretaker saw them leaving and stopped his work to watch them go, though he didn't call out. Ben raised a hand in a slight wave. 

Outside the cemetery, he quickened his pace, taking the winding stone steps up to the Livet Tower by two, stopping only when he reached the middle of the bridge over the Solleu River. On the other side, a fire glowed inside the temple, holy people and funeral-goers silhouetted against the backdrop. Another soul soon to join Naboo's life force. 

Ben peered over the ledge at the water rushing toward Virdugo Plunge, then he looked at the saber he held in his hand. _That saber...it belongs to me!_ the enraged voice of Kylo Ren echoed through his mind. 

He wound back, just like Dad showed him to throw a grav-ball as a kid, and lobbed Anakin Skywalker's saber as far as he could. It struck the surface of the river a good thirty yards away with a somewhat anticlimactic _plonk._

"When I tried that," came Rey's voice from behind him a moment later, "Luke's ghost appeared and told me a Jedi's saber deserves more respect." 

Ben turned toward her, leaning back against the bridge and shoving his hands into his pants pockets. "Grandfather doesn't seem to share the same view." 

His ghost hadn't appeared to confirm one way or another, but inside, in the void that had always been his grandfather, Ben felt peace. 

Rey felt it, too. He sensed it in the steady hum of the force between them, saw it in her smile and the softness of her eyes. 

"I guess I did kind of litter, though," he added. 

Her laugh rang out, stifled immediately by her hand clapped over her mouth when she remembered the funeral in the temple. Ben grabbed her free hand and they made a quick escape back down the stairway. 

"What now?" Rey asked when they were out of hearing distance. "We've done what we came here to do." 

"I have," Ben replied, stopping on the path to face her. "What about you?" 

Her brows buckled in confusion. Ben raked a hand through his hair, then blew out a breath.

"You heard what he said back there." 

He gestured behind Rey, in the general direction of the cemetery. She looked back over her shoulder, as if expecting to see someone. 

"The caretaker," Ben clarified. 

"Oh. What did he say?"

"About senators. Prominent Naboo families. Aren't you curious about yours?"

For a long moment, Rey stood silent, looking past him, her face and the Force betraying nothing. Ben didn't think the question upset her, at least, and she seemed to be considering it. 

"I…didn't mean to put you on the spot," he said. "You don't have to decide right this second." 

Rey's eyes met his again. "I didn't come here to wake the dead." She reached up and touched his cheek, her fingers tracing where his scar had been. "I know who my family is." 

She arched up on her toes at the same time as he bent his head. Their lips met, melting softly together, seeking and reassuring. Rey's arms twined around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair, and Ben's wrapped around the waist, pressing her against him as if he would never let go. 

He did, of course, when the kiss came to its natural conclusion, though they held each other for a long time, foreheads touching.

"But is there anything you want to see on Naboo while we're here?" he asked after a moment. "The Royal Hangar?"

Rey caught her lower lip between her teeth, eyes darting up to meet his almost shyly. She looked adorable like that, and it made him want to hiss her again. As he did, she said, "I think I'd rather like to visit the art museum. I've…never been to one."

"I'd like to show you," Ben said, smiling. 

A crack of thunder made them jump apart. Before they could take even a step toward cover, the clouds burst, drenching them to the skin. 

"Your hair's wet," Rey said, looking up at him with laughter in her eyes. 

"Yeah." 

"They probably won't let us into the art museum like this."

"Guess we're going to Otoh Gunga, sweetheart." 

**Author's Note:**

> [Theed Spaceport](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Theed_Spaceport)
> 
> [Virdugo Plunge](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Virdugo_Plunge/Legends)
> 
> [Air Taxi Driver Droid](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Unidentified_air_taxi_driver_droid)
> 
> [Solleu River](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Solleu_River/Legends)
> 
> [Padmé Amidala's Mausoleum](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Padm%C3%A9_Amidala%27s_mausoleum)
> 
> [Theed Funeral Temple](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Theed_Funeral_Temple)
> 
> [Livet Tower](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Livet_Tower)
> 
> The Statue of Qui-Gon Jinn is mentioned in [Queen's Shadow](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Queen%27s_Shadow).


End file.
